


The Mechanic

by Mokulule



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Aftermath of revolution, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker is Not a Jedi, Gen, Mechanic Anakin, Tatooine Slave Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-04-25 18:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22329799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mokulule/pseuds/Mokulule
Summary: Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi has been sent to negotiate the use of the hyperspace routes near Tatooine. He expects to find Jabba the Hutt, but the slug is nowhere to be found. In fact Tatooine is not at all what he expected, and why does people want him to see a mechanic?
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Shmi Skywalker
Comments: 16
Kudos: 648





	The Mechanic

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just a small AU I posted on my Tumblr a while ago inspired by Fialleril's Tatooine Slave culture.

Jedi Knight and General of the 212th, Obi-Wan Kenobi, would readily admit he was confused. For one he had expected to meet with Jabba the Hutt in negotiating the use of the Hutt’s trade routes in the outer-rim but there were no Hutts to be found instead he kept being referred to go see some mechanic? And that was another thing that was strange, the atmosphere here seemed so clear - like the air after a thunderstorm, like a fresh start. It wasn’t like people were smiling or overly friendly, they were tough people living on a desert planet, but he was met with equal parts kindness and suspiciousness. Rarely had he met a people more secretive and all anyone seemed willing to do was direct him towards this “mechanic”.

And so the Jedi General walked through the dusty streets getting inquisitive glances from natives whose conversations halted as he passed. It should have been unnerving, that attention, but still the force itself was light and clear here - certainly not what he would have expected of Tatooine rumored as it was to be a hive of scum and villainy second only to Nar Shadda.

Mos Espa, the biggest city on the dessert planet wasn’t as he’d expected either. Sure it had the flat-roofed light buildings set slightly into the ground so as to make for shadeful cool places during the midday heat, but they were decorated with colorful illustrations and symbols he had no context for understanding the meaning of - a circle broken into seven parts were a popular one. Colored fabric hung from window sills and rooftops almost like banners of allegiance ranging from black and white to green, blue, red and orange - no purple nuances at all though and he idly wondered why… It gave the streets the look of the aftermath of some kind of celebration nobody had bothered to clean up. Obi-Wan had to admit it made for interesting scenery.

He ran his hand over some carvings almost invisible against the white rock of a doorway and the force whispered protection at him so low he only heard it because he’d stopped to actually listen. Fascinated he looked around and he could now glean other carvings hidden in doorways and window sills and now that he knew what to listen for the wishes of the carvers where a harmonious song at the edge of his hearing; protection, love, family, home.

Almost in a daze he followed the directions to the mechanic always half an ear on the song. He stopped in front of a nondescript doorway. A sign with a multitool swayed lightly in the breeze over the doorway - he assumed that meant he was in the right place. Really he would have expected someone as important as this mechanic apparently was, to be situauted on the main street and not down a dozen smaller roads and through a couple of backroad-alleys. There was of course always the risk that this was some kind of trick played on stupid foreigners… In that case… well, he’d always been a proponent of simply springing the trap and trusting the force. He walked down the three steps that put him into the shade of the doorway and knocked curtly on the door before activating the control panel.

The door opened smoothly with nary a sound to reveal a workroom with tables and shelves scattered with parts and pieces of flimsi with sketches of blueprints on them.

“Just a moment and I’ll be there,” a young voice yelled from further inside. The sound came from an open doorway and curious Obi-Wan made his way over there moving carefully through the clutter - along the way he thought he saw a half finished thermal detonator, but that couldn’t be right. Coming to stand in the doorway he gasped at the hangar he’d entered. Built into the ground the ceiling only rose as high as the rest of the house, but it was dug at least two stories into the ground creating a hangar large enough to fit a couple of medium sized freighters. A winding metal staircase lead to the ground, a ramp lead to a garage sized opening in the far wall and there were signs that the ceiling could open in the middle. Currently it held a single heavily modified freighter, a blue and white pod-racer in the corner, various speeder bikes in different states of repair and a dull red speeder with a pair of long legs sticking out from under it.

The legs turned out to belong to a tall young man when he pushed out from under the speeder. He noticed the brown robed Jedi unnervingly quickly and waved him down.

“Come on, if you’re that impatient, you might as well come down here.”

Obi-Wan felt a stab of annoyance at being called impatient but quickly let the Force have it. As he neared the young man, he noted the bright blue eyes, the prominent scars from both knife and blaster wounds on his bare muscled arms and the curly dark blond hair gathered in a ponytail at his neck.

Not taking his eyes off Obi-Wan he wiped the worst of the oil off his strong hands with a piece of maybe-once-upon-a-time-white cloth hanging at his belt.

“Greetings of double-noon, Stranger.” He held out a mostly clean hand, with an offer of his name; “Anakin Skywalker.”

Obi-Wan took the proffered hand in a firm handshake and was so startled by this Anakin Skywalker’s bright blazing presence in the Force that his own introduction came as a dazed afterthought “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Skywalker raised an eyebrow at his belated response as if accepting the strangeness of it then moved on, letting go of Obi-Wan’s hand. His presence muted a bit with the loss of contact but now that Obi-Wan was aware of it, he couldn’t erase it from his mind.

“What can I do for you, Obi-Wan from the Core? Your hyperdrive break down?” His smile was small but friendly.

Obi-Wan scoffed and shook his head, “I almost wish it was so, that would make this at least somewhat make sense.” He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. “Actually I was sent here to negotiate with Jabba the Hutt to allow the Republic the use of the trade routes near Tatooine.”

Skywalker’s gaze sharpened and the smile fell. “You’re a jedi.”

Obi-Wan wordlessly held the left side of his cloak away from his body revealing his lightsaber.

“I must admit that I was confused, when I asked around and only got referred to ‘the mechanic’, a very tight-lipped community you got here…”

Anakin laughed, the strange tension breaking. “They have got to stop doing this.”

“Doing what? If I may ask?”

Anakin’s smile turned sharp. “Using me to vet strangers.”

The threat was clear in his tone and while Obi-Wan was confident he could beat the young man in a fight, he also had a bad feeling it would not be easy.

Skywalker turned around suddenly, breaking the tension as suddenly as he’d created it.

“Come along then, if you want someone to negotiate with, you’re gonna wanna meet my mother.”

Mystified he followed Skywalker around as he picked up a few indefinable smaller projects and put them in a dark brown messenger bag. In black stitching in the bottom left corner almost invisible against the dark brown was that symbol of the broken circle again.

He slung the bag over his shoulder and took the winding staircase in only five leaps using the railing to propel himself upwards. Obi-Wan closed his mouth. Not one to be outdone he used the force to assist him as he copied the feat. Landing in front of Skywalker he straigthened his robes and raised an eyebrow, wordlessly saying ‘shall we?’.

Skywalker grinned in delight but didn’t comment. He weaved through the workroom clutter with the grace of familiarity (and maybe a little extra). He gestured for Obi-Wan to leave ahead of him as he locked up the shop. They’d only walked a few steps into the small alley when Skywalker stopped, eyes going distant. Obi-Wan reached out with the force and to his wonder felt Skywalker doing the same - he couldn’t feel any of what Skywalker seemed to feel though.

He shook his head as he came out of it. Looking to Obi-Wan with a doubtful glance. “Do you have shelter for the storm tonight?”

Obi-Wan knew better than to really doubt the words of the force sensitive native, but couldn’t help but remark; “the forecast didn’t mention any sand storms.”

Anakin quirked a sardonic smile, “The dessert doesn’t care much for forecasts. So that’s a no to having shelter then. You’ll just have to stay with us then.”

They moved through the streets, people nodded and smiled at Anakin, the respect was obvious and Obi-Wan just got more and more curious. At one point Anakin gestured at an obviously armed twilek woman wearing no distinct uniform just loose casual clothing, despite that Obi-Wan got the feeling she was part of local security. She walked over to them and Anakin exchanged some words lowly in what sounded like Huttese and the woman nodded before returning to her place at the wall. As they continued on Obi-Wan looked back to see her with her right hand by her ear as if she was talking into a comm.

The dwellings got smaller the further they went, still the same white rock all the buildings seemed to be made from but definitely a poorer part of town. They entered a part of the city which seemed distinct and rather isolated from the rest in which the dwellings outwardly only consisted of a door and it was like more dwellings had been slapped on top later as necessary and connected to the ground with slim stairs protruding from the house walls without railings.

Anakin walked them to the end of the line and into one of the bottom dwellings. He shook his loose clothing and stepped out of his sandals before entering the home.

“Mom, I’m home. I brought a guest.” He called.

Obi-Wan mimicked Anakin’s obvious attempt to get rid of as much of the sand as possible and pried his boots off before entering. It was quite a relief.

‘Mom’ turned out to be a middle aged woman with brown hair and kind eyes in a weathered face that spoke of the hardships of the desert.

“You’re home early Ani, how was work?”

“Eh it was fine, nothing too exciting happening. We’re gonna have a storm tonight.”

“Is that why you brought home a guest?” It was a pointed question, the real thinly veiled question was why he hadn’t introduced his guest. Anakin waved a hand dismissively as if saying Obi-Wan could introduce himself and walked further into the room. Obi-Wan was feeling increasingly more confused as time went on so he fell back on the basics; courtesy.

“Apologies Ma’am,” he bowed politely, “I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, I was sent here to negotiate the usage of the trade routes near Tattooine for the Republic, but I have been continuously referred to your son and now he’s referred me to you.” He spread his hands in surrender.

Anakin’s laughter could be heard from a distant room. The mother cast an irritated glance in the direction Anakin had gone before taking pity on Obi-Wan.

“Do come in, I’m terribly sorry about my son’s behaviour. My name is Shmi Skywalker. I assume you came to negotiate with Jabba?”

She indicated a chair in the kitchen for him to sit down in.

“Indeed, mrs Skywalker.” 

“Just Shmi please, we’re not big on formality here.” 

Obi-Wan sighed in surrender; “Shmi then.”

She nodded satisfied before busying herself with making some warm drink that filled the room with delightful spices.

“Jabba died 6 months ago during the initial revolts,” she commented offhandedly.

Obi-Wan’s jaw dropped. “How could we not have heard of this? Revolts?”

“Tatooine is pretty isolated, even from the Hutts. Jabba while powerful didn’t interact much with the other Hutts and would often ignore their calls. We also made sure to keep a lid on things to make sure we have a defence ready when they find out.”

_We._ For the first time Obi-Wan started to think he was actually in the right place. 

A steaming mug was set in front of him, the warm spicy aroma from earlier was doubled and now he could also smell a faint hint of citrus. Curiously he brought the mug to his lips and took a sip - the spices was an interesting combination that spread warmth through his body, there was the fresh citrusy hint and a small amount of bitterness. He closed his eyes, basking in the flavors and smells. Like this, he could almost imagine he was home enjoying a new tea blend. No war. Just home from negotiating a simple trade dispute. Qui-Gon sitting in front of him satisfied that his padawan had finally learned to appreciate tea.

He opened his eyes again and found Shmi sitting across from him with her own mug. She had soft smiling crinkles at her eyes.

Anakin padded into the room having cleaned up and changed into a loose off-white tunic and sand colored leggings, his curls hung loose around his face. He looked younger and softer like this. Casually he bent down to kiss his mother’s cheek, like he did this everyday (he probably did), she leaned into it slightly and he said something lowly in a language Obi-Wan didn’t recognise. There was something about their interactions that niggled in the back of Obi-Wan’s head as Anakin went to pour his own mug, before sitting down at the table with them. Something about the casual way they touched. Something about the air here, the way the force reacted.

With belated and numb shock he realized it was love - this was the home of a powerful force-sensitive with a strong bond built on love with his mother. And this permeated the force itself, a bastion of light like the jedi temple itself except this wasn’t built on centuries of serenity and peace, but rather a single lifetime of love.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel I need to clarify that this is just a small oneshot what-if scenario. I likely won't write more in this AU - it is too similar to other prequel AU chaptered fics in my WIP folder. 
> 
> Anyone can use it as a jumping off point if they'd like.


End file.
